Vanala
A gently floating orb of green and blue clouds swirling together like the seas of some great ocean, Vanala floats in the void, half the size of the system's sun it's beauty belies it's violent temperament. Much like any other gas giant Vanala is a multi-layered orb of various gases, particularly hydrogen, in varying forms that fit the crushing pressures of it's depths. It's cycle of winds and storms have proven to be quite violent in the past, making permanent research bases on and in the clouds almost impossible for any extended period of time. It is on the rare occasion that these planet-sized storms meet one another though, that the violent nature shows it's true form. When two or more of these storms intersect one another they explosively eject mass from the crushing depths of the planets core, firing out into the void like a sword thrust into sky. These ejections have in the past caught convoy fleets off guard, and the resulting damage from a spire of molten hydrogen leaves little in it's wake. Attempts at tracking and predicting these eruptions have been made with some success, but even beneath the surface layers, storms form and swirl and clash without warning, nullifying any attempts to do so until sub-surface monitoring can be established. It is for this reason that the planet and it's moons have been avoided amongst the system, the violent outbursts have proven too great a threat to consider any kind of permanent base. While some temporary bases have been built on the surrounding moons they is of little note. Satellites Bodkin – Dead Moon A small ball of brown dust with little geographical variation beyond a few deep valleys, Bodkin is a remarkable place only in that there are signs of an ancient and deadly battle that scar the surface. The airless moon is covered in pock-marks of energy weapons fire, some that reaches kilometres into the rock or that have carved chunks out of mountains. Several remnants of bodies and broken technology that were found have shown that humans were once a part of the war here, but the other side seem entirely missing, their ancient defence lines cracked open but no hint of them, the mysterious 'other side'. To this end, small archaeological teams have been granted access to make some headway, but so far have found nothing new. Shoalus – Dead Moon Another lifeless world with no atmosphere to breathe, Shoalus hangs above Vanala as a green orb thanks to the excessive amounts of chlorine in it's atmosphere. While the chlorine atmosphere has rendered most of the topsoil useless, the nutrients are to be found deeper down, feeding into an almost planet-wide species of coral. This coral, dubbed the 'Shoal Stone' by locals, is a vast network of structures that have built up over millennia under the ground, forming a web that is theorised to stretch under most of the moon's surface. When it was initially found it was thought it could be used as yet another resource to fuel the Imperium's war machine, but it was swiftly found out that the substance was far too brittle for any kind of manufacturing process, and was swiftly forgotten by most. Not all however, forgot. The nobles of Solanis Secundus, that had partially helped fund the research into the shoal stone, found the the striated colourings of the coral to be remarkably attractive, and so had it incorporated into jewellery for them to wear. Sweeping through the upper hive shoal stone became the new symbol of wealth amongst the nobles, because procuring some meant sending a mining expedition to Shoalus just to acquire the raw material. And while it is more proliferate amongst the evening meals and balls of Solanis Secundus now, it still proves it's worth as a status symbol to this day. Hela's Peak – Ice Moon While the administratum would clearly argue the Hela's Peak was a dead moon, by the name of 'Hela' any native resident of the Solanis System would argue otherwise. This discrepancy is due to the violent actions of the gas giant the moon orbits. At some point between arrival of the Great Crusade to the Solanis System and the current day, one of Vanala's violent ejections of molten hydrogen managed to impact directly upon the moon of Hela. The resulting blast and settling of the hydrogen over the moon left it misshapen, with one side sporting a crater hundreds of kilometres wide, while a frozen layer of hydrogen sweeps over the planet and forms a massive mountain peak on the opposite side. It's from this new mountain of frozen hydrogen, more than 22,000 km high, that it was renamed. While local nomenclature adapted to fit this new development, the Administratum and the Imperium at large were, as ever, very slow to follow. Stone Dragon – Teritus Level Garrison 'High Castle' Built as a geostationary platform in orbit of Bodkin, the High Castle station is a small-scale industrial yard given to the Stone Dragons and refit as their own small orbital fortress. Relocated to the distant gas giant, it is intended to be one of the first layers of warning and defence for any invader attempting to take the system. With many features packed into it's frame it could be considered a small starport as well as fortress housing docking spines large enough to accommodate Grand Cruiser sized ships. With Several macrocannon batteries, extensive point defence arrays and a single, large hanger dock that stretches from nose to tail, it can easily project it's power into the outer half of the system. Category:Planets Category:The Sahaqiel Reach Category:Loyalist Category:Imperium Category:Stone Dragons Category:Gas Giant